14 DAY TRIAL // Jake Gyllenhaal will be seen next in “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” out in theaters in many territories this Friday. For the role, the actor famously gained a lot of muscle mass, transforming his body into a genuine fight machine, complete with rippling muscles and hard-rock abs. Speaking with People on how he got so buff, the actor says it was all part of the job.
Fans must already know by now that part of the training he received for the film also included a lot of free running (or Parkour) and weight training to boost strength and build muscle mass. The workout regime was supposedly a grueling one, but Jake is not the one to say it loud, joking with the mag that even training this hard comes with the territory, with the job of being an actor.
“It was so hard,” Gyllenhaal tells People with a smirk, probably taking a swing at all those stars who complain about the kind of challenges they need to face for a movie role. “Being an actor is so hard. Being in shape is so hard, too, and being paid to get into shape is even harder – and you can quote me on all of those,” he adds. Then, on a more serious note, “I like the focus. I’m somebody who likes to kind of keep moving. When you’re shooting a movie, the downtime is always the hardest thing, and when you get to be physical in between takes it’s actually a good thing, I think, for any actor.”
His inspiration was Dustin Hoffman, it would seem. “I remember when I worked with Dustin Hoffman – as a wrap gift Dustin gave me a walker to do triceps push-ups on, because that’s how he’d get his energy going. Every actor has different tricks, and I thought that it was a great thing. I would go run and jump and do what I could to get excited and ready for the next take and to stay in shape,” Jake explains.
As for whether he’s still in the same shape he was while “Prince of Persia” was shooting, Gyllenhaal says not quite. Of course, he’s no longer as buffed as he was a few months back, but he remains in pretty good shape, for the simple reason that he’s a very active type of guy, as Jake explains.